Little Christmas

{{Short description|Alternative title for 6 January}} {{about|the traditional celebration of Christmas on 6 January|the Tasmanian island|Little Christmas Island}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox holiday | holiday_name = Little Christmas | image = | nickname = '''Ireland''' Women's Christmas Women's Little Christmas {{lang|ga|Nollaig na mBan}} Wee Christmas (in parts of Ulster only) '''Scotland''' {{lang|ga|Là Challuinn}} {{lang|ga|Là na Bliadhna Ùire}} '''Other''' Old Christmas Armenian Christmas Green Christmas<ref name="Vance. 2012">Vance., Randolph, (2012). Ozark Magic and Folklore. Dover Publications. {{ISBN|1-306-33958-8}}. {{OCLC|868269974}}.</ref> The Day of The Three Wise Men Three Kings Day | observedby = Amish Christians in Ireland and the Irish diaspora Appalachian Americans, Scottish Highlanders Newfoundland and Labrador | date = 6 January in Ireland, 1 January in the Scottish Highlands | observances = religious services, gift giving, family gatherings, meeting friends | type = Christian, Irish and Scottish | significance = visit of the Magi to Jesus, former date of Christmas | relatedto = Christmas, Twelfth Night, Epiphany, Christmastide, Epiphanytide }}

'''Little Christmas''' ({{langx|ga|Nollaig na mBan|lit=Women's Christmas}}), also known as '''Old Christmas''', is one of the traditional names among Irish Christians and the Amish for 6 January, which is also known more widely as the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated after the conclusion of the twelve days of Christmastide. Epiphany, observed on 6 January, is preceded by Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve) on 5 January.<ref name="Hatch1978">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/americanbookofda00hatc |title=The American Book of Days |last=Hatch |first=Jane M. |publisher=Wilson |year=1978 |isbn=9780824205935 |quote=January 5th: Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve. Twelfth Night, the last evening of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas, has been observed with festive celebration ever since the Middle Ages. |url-access=registration}}</ref> Believers prepare for Old Christmas through fasting, which is opened on Old Christmas through the consumption of Christmas dinner. The emphasis of Old Christmas celebrations is on reflecting on the birth of Jesus through attending church services and visiting with family.<ref name="OAC2025"/><ref name="WVPB2021">{{cite web |title=January 6: 'Old Christmas' Celebrated Across West Virginia, Appalachia |url=https://wvpublic.org/january-6-old-christmas-celebrated-across-west-virginia-appalachia/ |publisher=West Virginia Public Broadcasting |access-date=7 January 2025 |date=6 January 2021}}</ref> Popular Little Christmas customs include burning Christmas candles, singing Christmas carols, Epiphany singing, chalking the door, and having one's house blessed.<ref name="OAC2025"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Epiphany |url=https://nationaltoday.com/epiphany/ |publisher=National Today|access-date=7 January 2025 |date=6 January 2021}}</ref>

==Origins== Owing to differences in liturgical calendars, as early as the fourth century, the churches of the eastern Roman Empire were celebrating Christmas on 6 January, while those of the western Roman Empire were celebrating it on 25 December.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/|title=How December 25 Became Christmas|work=Biblical Archaeology Society | date = 10 December 2019}}</ref>

In October 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar as a correction of the Julian calendar, because the latter has too many leap years that cause it to drift out of alignment with the solar year. This has liturgical significance since calculation of the date of Easter assumes that spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on 21 March. To correct the accumulated error, he ordained the date be advanced by ten days. Most Roman Catholic countries adopted the new calendar immediately and Protestant countries followed suit over the following 200 years. In particular, the British Empire (including the American colonies) did so from 1752 with the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, by which time the divergence had grown to eleven days.{{efn|1600 was a leap year in both calendars, being divisible by 400, but 1700 was a leap year only in the Julian calendar.}} This meant that Christmas Day on 25 December ('New Style') was eleven days earlier than it would have been but for the Act, making "Old Christmas" [25 December ('Old Style')] happen on 5 January (NS). In February 1800, the Julian calendar had another leap year but the Gregorian did not, moving Old Christmas to 6 January (NS), which coincided with the Feast of the Epiphany.{{efn|until 1900, when there was another leap day in the Julian calendar but not the Gregorian. From then (until 2099), 25 December (Julian) corresponds to 7 January (Gregorian), which is Christmas Day for most Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians.}}

For this reason, in some parts of the world, the Feast of the Epiphany, which is traditionally observed on 6 January, is sometimes referred to as ''Old Christmas'' or ''Old Christmas Day''.<ref name="Harland2003">{{cite book|author=John Harland|author-link=John Harland|title=Lancashire Folklore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ha7dHO3W6L8C&pg=PA216|access-date=3 January 2012|date=May 2003|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-5672-2|pages=216–}}</ref><ref name="Sala1869">{{cite book|author=George Augustus Sala|title=Rome and Venice: with other wanderings in Italy, in 1866-7|url=https://archive.org/details/romeandvenicewi00salagoog|access-date=3 January 2012|year=1869|publisher=Tinsley brothers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/romeandvenicewi00salagoog/page/n410 397]–}}</ref> Although 1900 was also not a leap year in the Gregorian calendar (and thus the Julian 25 December has since that year coincided with 7{{nbsp}}January in the Gregorian calendar) the custom of celebrating Little Christmas on 6{{nbsp}}January did not change.

==Observance by country== ===Europe=== In the Scottish Highlands the term ''Little Christmas'' ({{langx|gd|Nollaig Bheag}}) is applied to New Year's Day, also known as {{lang|gd|Là Challuinn}}, or {{lang|gd|Là na Bliadhna Ùire}},<ref name=Dwelly>Edward Dwelly, ''Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary'' (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001).</ref> while Epiphany is known as {{lang|gd|Là Féill nan Rìgh}}, the feast-day of the Kings.<ref name=Dwelly/> The Transalpine Redemptorists who live on Papa Stronsay in Scotland, celebrate 'Little Christmas' on the twenty-fifth day of every month, except for December, when the twenty-fifth day is celebrated as Christmas Day. The custom of blessing homes on Epiphany developed because the feast commemorates the time that the three kings visited the home of the Holy Family.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the late 19th century, the day was also known as Little Christmas in some parts of England, such as Lancashire.<ref name="Cheshire notes and queries">{{cite book|title=Cheshire notes and queries|url=https://archive.org/details/cheshirenotesan03unkngoog|access-date=3 January 2012|year=1882|publisher=Swain and Co., Ltd.}}</ref> In the Isle of Man, New Year's Day on 1 January was formerly called {{lang|gv|Laa Nolick beg}} in Manx, or ''Little Christmas Day'', while 6 January was referred to as ''Old Christmas Day''.<ref name="Moore1971">{{cite book|author=Arthur William Moore|title=The folk-lore of the Isle of Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UXHJv1CgB0C&pg=PA150|access-date=3 January 2012|year=1971|publisher=Forgotten Books|isbn=978-1-60506-183-2|pages=150–}}</ref> The name ''Little Christmas'' is also found in other languages including Slovene ({{lang|sl|mali Božič}}), Galician ({{lang|gl|Nadalinho}}), and Ukrainian.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In Scandinavia, where the main celebration of Christmas is on Christmas Eve (24 December), the evening of 23 December is known as ''little Christmas Eve'' ({{langx|da|lillejuleaften}}).<ref name="Foundation1917">{{cite book|author=American-Scandinavian Foundation|title=Scandinavian review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JPk5AQAAIAAJ|access-date=3 January 2012|year=1917|publisher=American-Scandinavian Foundation.}}</ref><ref name="Norwegian Migration to America">{{cite book|title=Norwegian Migration to America|year = 1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmjz0Iq9x5EC&pg=PA216|access-date=3 January 2012|publisher=Ardent Media|pages=216–|id=GGKEY:AEZFNU47LJ2}}</ref>

In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, the emphasis of Christmas Day is on family dinner reunion and church attendance, while gifts are exchanged on the Feast of the Epiphany, when according to tradition the Three Wise Men (or Magi) brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child Jesus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Christmas/faqs.asp#littlechristmas|title=Advent to Epiphany: Celebrating The Christmas Cycle – Frequently Asked Questions|website = americancatholic.org | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160629190729/http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Christmas/faqs.asp#littlechristmas | archive-date = 29 June 2016 }}</ref> Tradition names them Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. It is an important celebration in Spanish-speaking countries, mainly dedicated to children, who receive their gifts on the morning of 6 January. In some countries, like Spain, it is a public holiday that marks the end of the Christmas season which started on Christmas Eve (24 December).{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night (the night before the Feast of the Epiphany) and if they are not taken down on that day, Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/candlemas.shtml|title=Candlemas|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=9 April 2014|quote=Any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down.}}</ref>

====Ireland: ''Nollaig na mBan'', or Women's Christmas ==== In some parts of Ireland, Little Christmas is also called '''{{lang|ga|Nollaig na mBan}}''' (in Irish) or '''Women's Christmas''' (in English). The day is so called because, traditionally, men would take on what would have been seen as the traditional "female" household duties for the day, giving women the day off.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ireland-fun-facts.com/little-womens-christmas.html|title=Little Women's Christmas|website = ireland-fun-facts.com | access-date = 6 January 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0102/1103975-the-roots-and-traditions-of-nollaig-na-mban/ | publisher = RTÉ | website = rte.ie | title = The roots and traditions of Nollaig na mBan | date = 6 January 2020 | access-date = 6 January 2020}}</ref> Goose was the traditional meat served on Women's Christmas.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hickey|first=Margaret|title=Ireland's green larder : the definitive history of Irish food and drink|publisher=Unbound|year=2018|isbn=978-1-78352-799-1|edition=[Paperback edition]|location=London|pages=141|oclc=1085196202}}</ref>

Women customarily hold parties or go out to socialise with their female friends and relatives on the day.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.echolive.ie/corkviews/arid-41307430.html | work = The Echo | title = For 40 years, we've celebrated the Women's Little Christmas in Cork | first = John | last = Dolan | date = 13 January 2024 | accessdate = 14 January 2024 }}</ref> As a result, parties of women and girls are common in bars and restaurants on the night.<ref name="RTÉ Regional 2024">{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2024/0106/1425128-nollaig-na-mban/|title=Nollaig na mBan celebrated at events across the country|last=O'Sullivan|first=Jennie|publisher=RTÉ|date=6 January 2024|access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref> While the tradition had been dying off in some parts of the country, the hospitality industry now specifically advertises events aimed at those celebrating ''Nollaig na mBan''.<ref name="RTE2021">{{cite web|url = https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0102/1103975-the-roots-and-traditions-of-nollaig-na-mban/ | publisher = RTÉ | website = rte.ie | title = The roots and traditions of Nollaig na mBan | date = 3 January 2021 | access-date = 4 January 2021 | quote = By the mid 20th century, the tradition of Nollaig na mBan had largely died out, but is slowly undergoing a revival. Hotels and restaurants are advertising ladies' afternoon teas and evenings out for the occasion }}</ref><ref name="examiner2018">{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30821531.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = What's the deal with Women's Little Christmas? | date = 6 January 2018 | access-date = 4 January 2021 | quote = the practice is largely dying out around the country but the tradition is still going strong in Kerry and Cork where anecdotal evidence suggests that there will be many ladies packed into restaurants and pubs this evening }}</ref> In 2024, a number of ''Nollaig na mBan'' events took place around the country: Dublin City Council held a ''Nollaig na mBan'' Festival celebrating the women of the inner city; the men of Trillick St Macartan's Gaelic Athletic Club in County Tyrone organised and served at a "thank you" high tea for the women in their lives; and over 2,400 women took part in sea swims around the country to raise funds for Women's Aid, a domestic violence charity.<ref name="RTÉ Regional 2024"/>

In Ireland, it is the traditional day to remove the Christmas tree and decorations, as it is seen as bad luck to leave them in place past the twelfth day of Christmas.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/1998/0106/98010600081.html |newspaper = The Irish Times |date = 8 January 1998 |title = On the women's day of Christmas |access-date = 8 March 2009 |archive-date = 12 October 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012074059/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/1998/0106/98010600081.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> Until 2013, it was the last day of the Christmas holidays for both primary and secondary schools in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/education/primary-and-post-primary-education/attendance-and-discipline-in-schools/school_terms_in_primary_and_postprimary|title=School terms in primary and post-primary schools|website = citizensinformation.ie |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131030225653/http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/primary_and_post_primary_education/attendance_and_discipline_in_schools/school_terms_in_primary_and_postprimary.html|archive-date = 30 October 2013 }}</ref>

===North America=== Some Anabaptists, such as the Amish and Mennonites, celebrate Christmas as a religious feast-day on 6 January.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Amish Celebrate Old Christmas Today|url=https://amishamerica.com/amish-celebrate-old-christmas/|access-date=2022-01-06|website=amishamerica.com|date=6 January 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=What is Old Christmas and why do The Amish celebrate it?|url=https://www.bestofamishcountry.com/post/old-christmas|access-date=2022-01-06|website=www.bestofamishcountry.com|date=28 February 2019 }}</ref> Believers prepare for Old Christmas through fasting, which is opened on Old Christmas through the consumption of Christmas dinner. The emphasis of Old Christmas celebrations is on reflecting on the birth of Jesus, as well as visiting with family and friends.<ref name="OAC2025">{{cite web |title=Old Christmas |url=https://www.ohiosamishcountry.com/articles/old-christmas |publisher=Ohio's Amish Country |access-date=7 January 2025}}</ref>

Celebration of Christmas Day on 6 January is reflected in the words of ''The Cherry-Tree Carol'', an English folk-song that migrated to Appalachia in the Eastern United States. In his paper ''The Observance of Old Christmas in Southern Appalachia'', C.R. Young writes 'sometime before the twentieth century, singers who may have been Appalachian residents turned the question which Mary asks of Jesus in regard to "what this world will be" into a query which Joseph puts to the unborn baby. Taking "Mary all on his left knee," he inquires when the birthday will be. Jesus responds:' {{blockquote |On the sixth day of January My birthday shall be, ... When the stars and the elements Shall tremble with glee. |source = Ritchie, ''Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians as Sung by Jean Ritchie''.{{sfn|Young|1977|loc=Footnote 25 }} }}

Young reports that "Bill 'Kitchen' Isom, an advocate of Old Christmas whose rendering of this carol Jean Thomas recorded in Carter County, Kentucky, gave the 'wind up of it' in these words: {{blockquote |'Twas on the sixth day of January Angels did sing; And the shepherds drew nigh Their gifts for to bring. | source = Thomas, ''Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky''.{{sfn|Young|1977|loc=Footnote 26 }} }}The holiday was also recognized by certain Ozark communities, <blockquote>''"In some sections of Arkansas there are people who bury the entrails of a black hen under the hearth on "Old Christmas." This is said to protect the house against destruction by lightning or fire. [...] I know that some "peckerwood families" did bury chicken guts under their hearths as recently as 1935, not far from the enlightened metropolis of Hot Springs."''<ref name="Vance. 2012"/></blockquote>

==Other meanings== A "Little Christmas" is also a figure in Irish set dancing.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.setdanceteacher.co.uk/kilfenora.htm | title = Kelfenora set figures | website = setdanceteacher.co.uk | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040109222006/http://www.setdanceteacher.co.uk/kilfenora.htm |archive-date=9 January 2004 }}</ref> It refers to a figure where half the set, four dancers, join with hands linked behind partners lower back, and the whole figure proceeds to rotate in a clockwise motion, usually for eight bars.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxdYeE4Ipq4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/GxdYeE4Ipq4| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Labasheeda Set 3rd Figure Reel-Little Christmas|date=23 September 2007|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the dance concerned, female participants enacted the traditional celebration's house visits and slightly subversive tone by taking the active "male" role of switching from partner to partner.<ref>Connecticut Irish dance teacher Kathy Mulkerin Carew, quoted in Mary Burke. "[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/707925 Forgotten Remembrances]: The 6 January 'Women's Christmas' and the 6 January 1839 'Night of the Big Wind' in 'The Dead'". James Joyce Quarterly 54.3–4 (2017): 267.</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Christianity}} * Epiphany (holiday) * Chalking the door * House blessing#Christianity * Pikkujoulu

==References== ===Notes=== {{notelist}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist}}

===Sources=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|last=Young |first=Chester Raymond |date=1977 |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3mkm.16 | chapter= The Observance of Old Christmas in Southern Appalachia |title=An Appalachian Symposium: Essays Written in Honor of Cratis D. Williams |pages=147–158 |editor=J. W. Williamson | publisher = Appalachian State University |doi= 10.2307/j.ctt1xp3mkm.16 |jstor=j.ctt1xp3mkm.16 }} {{refend}}

==External links== * [http://muse.jhu.edu/article/707925/pdf Article from the ''James Joyce Quarterly'' on references to Women's Christmas in the work of James Joyce (Mary Burke)]

Category:Amish Category:Christmas in Ireland Category:Christmas in Scotland Category:Epiphany (holiday) Category:January observances Category:Christmas in England Category:Christmas in the United Kingdom